Hikikomogomo: Remastered
by Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz
Summary: The end of the Yggdra War wasn't all the good things Yggdra had hoped for. Things aren't going according to plan and something foul is afoot that threatens to embroil the land in war once again, but for what cause and by who?
1. Chapter 1

**Hikikomogomo: Remastered**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yggdra Union or any of the character's in it in anyway. And so on and so forth.

**Chapter 1 - A witch's boredom**

Rosary chewed on the feathered tip of her quill absent mindedly as she looked over the book on her desk. She had been working on recording the history of the 'Yggdra War' for the past few months since the end of the war. It was proving to be far more difficult then she thought, if merely because she hadn't experienced the war from the start. She had to write the book with blank pages for the accounts from Milanor and Yggdra about the start, and of course would probably then have to rewrite the whole thing to make it look all good. It really was a very boring, dull task but it at least kept her busy.

The witch nodded and put away her quill and ink well, leaving the book open so it would dry as she got up to stretch. Judging by the sun's position she guessed it was probably about noon… Means her lunch should be on its way by now. Or someone was about to get set on fire.

As if on cue there was a knock on her door, "Come in." stated Rosary simply as she walked to the small table in her room to go take a seat as one of her witches opened the door carrying a silver tray with tea and food on it

The maid witch clearly didn't seem to like her job, and who could blame her? They were meant to be witches after all not maids but Rosary felt it was easier to just let all her witch apprentices be her maids as well. Very cost effective. The apprentice placed the tray on Rosary's table and quietly dismissed herself from her room as Rosary took the cup of tea and sipped it thoughtfully. Maybe she needed to go take a vacation. There hadn't been any messengers from Paltina for some weeks now and it worried her, Yggdra always liked to keep in touch with her friends and Paltina was hardly far from her domain…

"Wonder where I put my broom…" she mused aloud as she set her cup down and started to eat her lunch

---

"You're doing whaaaat!?" shouted the apprentice witch in surprise as Rosary casually looked through another chest for her broom

"Where did I put that thing… Know it's around here somewhere…" mused the scion as she ignored the apprentice as she moved to check her closet

"Lady Rosary are you even listening to me!?"

"Oh I am. I'm just not paying attention to you. There's a very clear difference. Now please quit shouting, it's very distracting."

"It could be dangerous out there and you want to go out on your own? Think this through Lady Rosary!"

"Dangerous? The worst that's left around here are just some bandits and they're no threat… Quit being such a worrywart." dismissed Rosary with a wave of her hand as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the card within waving it, "Besides I've got a few cards with me still if I need it. And plus I need to leave you all behind to keep an eye on things. I trust I can trust you yes?"

The apprentice witch sighed and slumped her shoulders, "Yes Lady Rosary, nothing bad will happen in your absence. Your broom is in the storage closet down the hall."

"See? Was that so hard? I'll be back before long. Maybe a month or two might be good…" mused the scion aloud as she left down the hall

"She really is quite the handful…"

---

Rosary lazily looked up at the sky, her hands folded behind her head as she was resting on her broom, one leg lazily hanging off the side. Normally this would be incredibly dangerous for someone to do, since the chances of falling off were pretty high, but Rosary had gotten very good at it. She was after all about the best witch around… If she wanted she could probably reach Paltina a lot faster if she simply flew higher but there was some complications with that.

One if she managed to fall she'd likely die. There was also the fact bandits could see her from miles away and that could cause unwanted problems… There was also the fact breathing was a lot more difficult higher up so the scion would just have to settle for floating above the path to Paltina. Far faster and easier on the body then walking. As she floated along the witch mulled over the fact that the messengers from Paltina had stopped so abruptly, they used to arrive at least weekly if not several times per week. Then suddenly they just stopped showing up…

She did know things hadn't gone exactly as Yggdra had planned, the girl was sweet and all but she was horribly naïve Rosary had to admit. While Yggdra's dream of a "world without borders" was certainly a nice thought it really was just that - a thought. Although Bronquia had been defeated and was no longer a problem that didn't mean it was a simple fact of rebuilding from then on. Bandits thrived in chaos and the collapse of the Bronquian Empire left plenty of chaos and opportunity for the bandits to thrive and build, not to mention the Empire itself still had some bits that refused to accept their defeat and offered resistance. It wasn't all bad since the close of the war though, after all with the Undine's treasured gem returned by Nietzsche the Undine nation wasn't going to interfere, although it was still far too shaken by the death of its queen to offer much in the way of aid. Of course things weren't going too badly in Rosary's domain either, the White Rose domain hadn't suffered too much and was running smoothly although having to control the Black Rose was a bit more difficult but there wasn't much resistance so much as a lot of overall dislike. She was sure it would pass in time. Either that or she could maybe toast a few of them and that might get them in line but that should be a last resort… Regardless all Rosary could think was that perhaps there was something pressing going on at the castle that had interrupted Yggdra's constant flow of communication. Maybe it was something she could help with so she could get her pen pal back…

The trip wasn't too horribly long, perhaps only a few hours, and as Rosary drew down the hill that would take her to the eastern side of Paltina she halted in her 'footsteps', so to speak. She sat up on her broom and peered out at the horizon with a frown. There was some commotion coming down that way… From the sounds of it a rather large one actually. That was unusual, there wasn't any festivals or anything so what could it possibly be…? Straddling the broom instead of laying down on it she sped up her pace down the hill path and skidded her broom to a halt as she finally could see what was going on.

It was a battle.

---

Yggdra Yuril Artwaltz was the current Queen of Paltina and the last of the royal line. But right now that all didn't matter - it never really did in the heat of battle. Despite Durant's insisting she couldn't sit this out, she had fought her whole way through a war and she had no intention of letting her soldiers die in her place because she was to sit on her throne and give orders. She abhorred violence but there was no real other alternative, the bandits refused to negotiate.

She had to admit it was shocking to see the bandits launch their raids against the castle, their numbers were few and they lacked any way of actually breaching the castle's walls or gate, yet they continued to attack day after day. There was the option to merely let them crowd outside the castle walls but Yggdra wouldn't have any of that, that would leave them free to pillage the countryside and innocent people would die because of that cowardice. So every time they came, she would lead the troops into battle. Every time they would win. But every time the bandits just kept coming. It was really a mystery of how their numbers seemed to limitless, but that wasn't Yggdra's worry at the moment. Survival was.

Without the Gran Centurio the Queen of Fantasia had spent her freetime learning to fight with a much smaller blade instead; she had quickly learned the Gran Centurio was exceedingly light for a blade of its size and she had no chance of lifting any kind of sword that large without the aid of magical enchantments on the blade, something no one could do anymore. But even without it her combat senses had hardly dulled, she hated to admit it but the war had left her very skilled in the ways of combat.

Yggdra's sword slashed into a bandit's chest leaving a red gash in his chest and free flowing crimson liquid to stain his shirt and her blade; a side step of an axe blow and she lashed out again and severed a bandit's axe-hefting arm. The screams of combat erupted around her, she originally could pick out the screams of death so easily but now it all melted into a single sound and all she could pick out of it was the sounds of her soldiers. She knew Durant never strayed from her side and the Third Cavalry was nearby, Cruz was in command of the archers perched atop the castle walls safe from the majority of the attacking forces, and she knew even Mistel was somewhere in this battle, likely not only showing off her tactical prowess but her skill with her scythe.

The blonde's sword locked with a bandit's axe with a loud clang as she could feel the force of the impact slam into her smaller and frailer body, in comparison to the bandit's tall and muscular form. She winced slightly as she kept the axe from sliding down into her skull, there was a scream as a lance pierced the man's side and he collapsed the ground as an armored knight rode past, his lance stained red with blood. She would've at least said "thank you" but she knew who it was and knew this wasn't the time, she spun around to lash out at her next foe… Only to watch as he yelled as his side was engulfed in fire. Yggdra gave a startled gasp as she looked about to see a white-clad, brown-haired woman waving her hand at a group of bandits who promptly were slammed with a wave of fire.

"Rosary!?" gasped Yggdra despite knowing her voice could never possibly carry that far across the battlefield, Rosary was about the last person she expected to show up at this point

But she didn't have the time now to wonder what Rosary was doing here, there was still a - suddenly she froze up and fell to her knees coughing violently. She managed to weakly look up at a bandit poised to strike in her moment of weakness, she felt like time had stopped for just a moment… Then suddenly the bandit fell to the ground with arrows his chest as an armored knight rode up to her side to defend her.

"My Queen are you alright!? Are you hurt!?" remarked the armored knight worriedly, even with his visor down his voice instantly marked him as the Commander of the Third Cavalry Durant

She coughed violently again and shakingly got to her feet, she nodded weakly but it was obvious Durant knew otherwise as he signaled for a knight to come to his side.

"Please my Queen, we'll take care of this. Don't worry about us, we couldn't bare for any harm to come to you."

"I… understand. Please be… Safe everyone…" gasped Yggdra weakly as the other knight neared and she took his outstretched hand and saddled up to be taken into the castle's gates

"For the Queen! Drive these invaders away!"

---

**Author's Notes**

Well I'm back! Yes I'm rewriting Hikikomogomo in it's entirety. While some things may be similar in some regards it's going to pretty much turn out differently. I've made a forum for my works so please if you have questions put them there so I can answer them. To reach it go to 'Forums', 'Games', 'Yggdra Union', and then 'Sweetberry Works'.

Thanks and please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **insert boring disclaimer here that everyone knows by heart now.

**Note: **Instead of a solid line, a **bolded **and _italicized _phrase (_**Like so**_) indicates a 'break' in the story.

**Chapter 2 - Of the White Rose and Phoenix**

"So I guess this would be why she suddenly stopped sending letters out to the manor…"

"Indeed." said Durant as he slowly walked down the hall with Rosary, "Although the messengers were still quite willing to do it for their Queen, but she wouldn't have them risking their lives. Despite how much she values your friendship of course Lady Rosary." added Durant quickly

"Ah no need to sound like you said something impolite Durant. I thought Yggdra told you to try to be more… Casual? You're always so stiff and serious all the time, makes it so hard to talk to you."

"Well I am tryi-" he paused and coughed into his gauntleted hand lightly, "Pleasantries aside this is quite a serious matter."

"They don't seem all that dangerous… But I suppose I'm no soldier really so what does that say?" shrugged the scion helplessly

"You aren't incorrect though Lady Rosary. They are rather unthreatening… Except for the fact they seem limitless. We've fought with them numerous times over the past few months but their numbers never seem to thin. If anything, it grows every week or so. That's the problem. Or rather one of many."

The armored knight sighed and stopped in his tracks to lean his hands on the railing overlooking the castle's courtyard. Rosary merely leaned up against the nearby wall, her arms folded across her chest as she waited for the knight to continue.

"Another is where they get all their equipment from. If a town was supplying them I'm sure we would've found it by now. But like their numbers it's almost like it appears out of thin air, they have no shortage of men or equipment. We have a limit on both.

"Without knowing where they are based we also can't take the battle to them. We suspect they're in the mountains of course but it could take months to search the area, and in that time the castle would have to be lightly defended in order to muster enough soldiers to search such a large area. With their numbers this would of course be a highly inadvisable course of action. That and it could just be a trap to search the mountains where they could pick off the patrol parties when they're isolated from one another."

Rosary let out a sigh from behind Durant and pushed away from the wall and threw up her arms.

"Or the short version is you're fighting an enemy you know just about nothing about and have no good solutions to stopping them from constantly running up and poking the castle walls. No need to bore me with the extended details Durant."

"I suppose that might be it. You never were very good at listening to lectures or anything were you?" stated Durant with a slight smirk, a rare sight from him to be sure, "Now then, I'm sure you've just been waiting for me to get this out of the way so you could ask about Her Majesty's condition correct?" the knight smirked again as Rosary stiffened slightly and glanced away a moment, signaling that Durant was correct, "I could tell you myself… But why don't you ask her personally? She should be fine enough for a chat. I'll go have your room prepared."

_**- "Your mark is a white rose right?"**_

Rosary nervously stood outside Yggdra's door, clenching and unclenching her fists at her side. Durant had pointed her to the room before leaving himself and since then the witch had been nervously pacing outside the door. She muttered to herself as she cautiously reached her hand for the knob of the door before faltering and dropping it back to her side again. Rosary groaned and paced a little bit more, drew a deep breath, grabbed the knob, yanked the door open, and slipped inside shutting the door behind her with a soft click.

The scion had only been in Yggdra's room a few times in her whole life but it was still always surprising to see it. It was easily large enough to constitute being a house for a peasant, the bedroom and kitchen were melded into the same room and a door off to the side would be where the personal bath was. The bed was off by the window that offered a great view of the city below, along with the horizon. The bed was made to comfortably accommodate two and it seemed overly large for the single girl currently resting in its silken sheets.

"You know Rosary, you took an awfully long time to finally open that door." remarked Yggdra, sitting up on the bed, her arms folded under her bust and her face trying to look as annoyed as possible, "You'd almost think you didn't want to see me!"

A smirk crossed Rosary's face as she shrugged helplessly and snatch up a chair from the table to bring with her to Yggdra's bedside, "It's a very serious thing to have to visit a queen within her own personal chambers! What if I did something wrong and you would have my head on a pike? I couldn't just waltz on in here unprepared!"

The pair laughed as Yggdra leaned over from her bed to embrace her older friend as she sat by her bedside.

"It's been a long time hasn't it?"

"Ah you always said that if we didn't even see one another for a few days back when I lounged around the castle." teased Rosary as she glanced to the tray on the nightstand

Rosary hadn't noticed it when she came to help out the soldiers but her friend really looked different. Or perhaps in the heat of battle Yggdra just seemed to be healthy? But sitting so close to her and being able to see her clearly, she could note times had been hard on the young queen. Yggdra's skin seemed pale, her eyes had lost their youthful touch and she thought she could make out the signs of bags under the girl's eyes, and even her tone of voice sounded strained.

"I don't feel as bad as I look." stated the blonde casually as Rosary blinked in surprise, "I could tell you were thinking it. And no, don't feel bad about coming to talk to me despite what you might hear I…" she paused and shook her head slowly, "Help yourself to some tea alright Rosary?"

"I wasn't looking that hard now was I?" spoke the witch as she reached over to the tray to pour herself a cup of tea, "I thought I was a lot more discreet about that sort of thing! I mean if I wasn't, I'm sure Durant might've tried to stop me from seeing you so much."

"Ah he wouldn't do that, he wouldn't be able to lie to me if I asked where you were constantly." Yggdra smiled as Rosary offered a cup of tea to her bedridden friend, "Thanks, I didn't even need to ask."

"I think I've gotten pretty good at reading your thoughts sometimes." said the scion as she went about adding copious amounts of sugar to her own cup of tea

"I never could tell why you always want so much sugar in your tea honestly Rosary…"

"I like things sweet is all." winked the witch as she took a sip from her cup to test it before going to add a bit more sugar, "So ah, how you'd get… Sick like this?"

"You sounded so very awkward asking that but I figured you were going to ask that sooner or later but…" Yggdra paused to consider her thoughts as Rosary waited patiently for her friend to continue, "I think it would've been not too long after all this trouble started. I think it actually came from when I was wounded during a fight…"

"Wait… Wounded? Durant never mentioned that you got hurt."

"It's… Difficult to explain really. I very clearly remember it but anyone I ask, even my bodyguards, said no one was there when I got hurt yet… Yet I ended up passing out and when they brought me back to the castle there was a scar. I can't really explain how it happened. And since then my health has well, declined… Nothing serious aside from feeling weak or the coughing fits but…"

"Hang on a minute. You said something about a scar right? You think you got poisoned or something?" asked Rosary curiously setting her tea cup down

"That's what the doctor thought as well but none of the medicines I've used seem to really do anything at all. I suppose if it is a poison it's just not one we're familiar with…"

"If it's er… Not in a very embarrassing place… May I have a look? I'm no doctor but, well, you never know right?"

Yggdra nodded and shifted her sitting so as her back was facing Rosary before slipping the straps of her white nightgown down, carefully holding the thin fabric to her front as the back slowly slipped down. Running diagonally, from Yggdra's right shoulder down to about her waist was a red scar. Rosary lightly traces the scar with the tip of her finger staring at it carefully before frowning and leaning forward to take a closer look. Upon closer inspection she noticed what looked like black veins spreading a short distance from the scar. The witch shook her head slowly.

"I've never seen anything like this at all before. It could possibly be a poison but if medicine doesn't work… Perhaps magic might be involved?" she shook her head again, "Dammit if I only studied healing magic I might just know what this is…"

"Don't worry about it Rosary. You couldn't have possibly known something like this could ever happen when you started to learn magic right? Don't beat yourself up over it…" replied Yggdra softly as she slipped the nightgown back up and slid the straps back into place before resuming her original position

"You're right as always of course. I just wish I could do more to help."

"It's nice just having you around again Rosary. I really missed having you around, so… I'll be happy we'll finally be able to see one another face to face again instead of writing." Yggdra blushed slightly as she continued, "And… This will sound selfish but uhm… Would you mind if I had it arranged so you -"

"Wasn't it you who said we shouldn't?" cut in Rosary tartly

"I… I know I did. It's just if this gets worse and I might… You know…"

"Don't even think that Yggdra, you'll be fine alright?" said Rosary rising from her seat, "I promise that ok? I should go see if Durant has got my room set up for me yet…" as she started to walk away her arm was grabbed by Yggdra, she paused in her steps and looked down at the younger girl

"I'm sorry. I just need to be a little selfish."

With surprising strength Rosary was yanked down and sprawled on the bed as Yggdra rolled on top of her and gently claimed Rosary's lips with her own. Rosary started to give a muffled protest but knew it was entirely ineffective and instead gave in kissing her younger friend back; eventually Yggdra drew her lips back and smiled slightly as she was blushing.

"I had forgotten how that felt it had been so long…"

Rosary blushed a bit and scrambled up off the bed, starting to fix her messed up hair and clothing as she quietly excused herself from Yggdra's room. The girl surprisingly gave no protest and merely hoped she would see the witch at dinner, if her own strength was enough to get out of bed that is. As the witch went to seek out Durant to see about the status on getting her a room she absentmindedly licked her lips slightly and pondered the taste lingering on them.

_'Her lips still taste like sweetberries…'_ thought the scion

- _**"Yeah and you're the phoenix right?"**_

- _**"Who would've thought… A phoenix in love with a rose?"**_

Durant frowned as he read over the papers one of the scouts had handed him. The news was, for once, not about the bandit raiders but it was also troubling to read. Lately it seemed equipment stored up in Bronquia, leftover from the war and guarded by small groups of soldiers until they could be brought back to Paltina, had been dwindling. Not the entire caches missing but small bits of them were being spirited away in the night. And not just the standard rank and file equipment either, the armor and scythe of Gulcasa himself had just vanished from its place in the Flarewerk castle not to mention the equipment of the Twin Valkyries and slain generals and commanders. But he couldn't figure out why they would steal these things, the standard gear would make sense, but why even the equipment belonging to the commanders and like as well? Something about it just didn't settle right in the knight's mind. He rolled the parchament up and glanced over his shoulder to the figure in the shadows whom hadn't been there a few moments before.

"What did you find out?"

"The body isn't there anymore Sir Durant. But the grave wasn't touched either." the figure paused a moment to consider its words, "Her mask is gone too. Maybe I should've kept it with me but…"

"No it's not your fault Elena. This is very troubling indeed… I sure hope this isn't some scheme by the raiders but even if it is… What would the purpose be?" the knight shook his head, "But thank you for this information. What of the other errand?"

"The Undines are too few to help us and… Well even with Nietzsche there I don't think they particularly want to have anything to do with us. I think she'll be able to come herself though and bring at least some of the Undines with her… Lord Russel reports the occasional attack on Karona but is willing to send us aid if we require it. Cruz is stationed in Karona as well and is on hand if we require his aid." she shook her head slowly, "I wasn't able to find Sir Milanor however. He is a far more difficult target to locate but I believe he is in the mountains somewhere."

"Very well. Thank you Elena and continue your search."

The blue-haired assassin nodded and slipped away without a sound as Durant turned the rolled-up scroll over in his hands a few times before stashing it in a sack and departing back into the castle proper. He still had to make sure Her Majesty's guest was properly housed during her stay. Perhaps he could ask for some of her witches? It couldn't hurt certainly…


End file.
